On the heels of new footage released by Sega at a recent screening of Shenmue: The Movie, some new information has become available regarding Shenmue II. The game, which will span from chapter 2 through to chapter 6 in the overall progression of the game's storyline, will suck up an impressive four GD-ROMs worth of space, and with good reason. Not only have the already amazing graphics been enhanced with such features as clouds that move in real time(in the original, the sky was simply a 2D bitmap), but it is now possible to have more characters on-screen, at least if the preview clip is any indication. As an added bonus, the characters are also much more detailed than their predecessors from the original Shenmue.

The preview shows a number of new locations that will be in the new game. The port of Hong Kong, the Kowloon Tower, and a remote forest town are all featured in the clip, which is of much better quality than the first distributed by Sega, a release that left many gamers who received it with their copy of Fighting Vipers II disappointed. These locations are just some of the many that hero Ryu Hazuki will travel through; he will visit Aberdeen, Wanchai and Guilin in addition to Kowloon, and in each area, will have a separate heroine to aid him in his endeavours. The four, Kun Fanmei, Joy, Kou Shuei, and Rei Shenhua, will be joined by such characters as Ren Wu Yin, who makes a repeat appearance in the sequel.

No release information for Shenmue 2 has yet been announced, for either Japan or North America. For those who just can't wait to see what the game will look like, IGN Dreamcast has the video footage online courtesy of AM2; it can be viewed here.